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In German court, accused denies Islamic Jihad exists
Jun 26, 2009, 15:38 GMT
Frankfurt - One of two Muslim men on trial in Germany for supporting a terrorist group denied Friday that the group, the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), exists.
Omid S, a 28-year-old Afghan-born German citizen, told the Frankfurt court on the first day of his trial that he was not guilty because there was no such group.
The indictment says Omid S attended training camps run by the shadowy group, which operates from the wilds of Afghanistan or Pakistan and is allied to al-Qaeda.
The other accused, 27-year-old Turkish national Huseyin S, identified himself but exercised his right to remain silent about the charges and evidence against him.
Neither man is accused of conducting any terrorist attack, but police maintain they assisted another IJU cell which was arrested in 2007 for plotting to make car bombs and blow them up at US bases in Germany.
Both men are also accused in the state superior court of welfare fraud. Prosecutors said they donated most of their ill-gotten social-insurance payouts to the IJU.
The trial is expected to last several months. The two men's full surnames were withheld under privacy guidelines for German media. Four other men are currently on trial in Dusseldorf over the car-bomb plot.
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